The mid-release 1.9.2 at the end of February was important in order to publish some improvements and bug fixes for various countries.

Here is a summary of the adjustments for each country:

• Slovenia
  In addition to the RetailForce test certificate, manufacturers’ own test certificates can now also be used.
  
• Denmark
  An error correction has been made for rounding differences and time zones (ATTENTION: due to the new version of the technical documentation of the Danish SAF-T Export – v1.5.3, a further change to the time specifications is necessary!).
  
• Sweden
  The option of debugging the CCU communication has been added.
  
• Italy
  LotteryId has been adjusted as a case-sensitive value and the “reprint last receipt” function has been added.
  
• Bulgaria
  The “reprint of last document” function has also been added here.
  
• Romania
  The “reprint last document” function has also been added.
  
• France
  The adjustment of the 24-rule with regard to the daily closing was made. This means that the checkout process can also be continued over 24 hours without a daily closing.

All changes to the new version can be found in the release notes on our website or in the information section of the RetailForce Cloud portal.

According to Royal Decree 1007/2023, new requirements for electronic invoicing systems have been defined that must be met by persons and companies subject to corporate tax.

The implementation of the requirements is the responsibility of the manufacturers of invoicing systems and must be confirmed by means of a declaration in lieu of an oath. The decree is expected to come into force from the middle of this year.

The core issue of VERI*FACTU is the issuance of verifiable invoices by these systems. This is to be ensured by transferring data to a unified system or by signing and securely storing the data in the same system.

To authorize the Minister of Finance to define these technical requirements, there was a ministerial decree defining the “VERI*FACTU” system. VERI*FACTU sets technical requirements for all invoicing systems.

There are two possibilities:

1. In the case of VERI*FACTU systems, each document can be verified via the online system of the Spanish tax administration (AEAT) by means of the QR code printed on the document.
2. This validation is not available for so-called NO-VERI*FACTU systems, where the data is signed and stored in the system, but no data transfer takes place. Companies that are obliged to transmit data to the tax authorities via SII are excluded from VERI*FACTU.

In Germany, the reporting of cash register systems is mandatory from July 1, 2025.
Systems purchased before July 1, 2025 must be reported by July 31, 2025 at the latest. We recommend automatic reporting via the ERiC interface, which RetailForce is implementing and is expected to make available in March/April.

The necessary system has been available for all federal states since January 1, 2025. From July onwards, it will be necessary to report electronically via the ELSTER portal using the ERiC interface or by uploading an XML file to “My ELSTER”.

What data must be reported?

• Person reporting (name of taxpayer or authorized representative)
• Unique ID (tax number / business identification number)
• Type of certified technical security device (certification ID)
• Type of electronic recording system used
• Number of electronic recording systems used per operating site – special features for network systems and input devices! [1]
• Serial number of the electronic recording system (depending on the manufacturer)
• Date of acquisition of the electronic recording system or the date of provision in the case of leasing or rental
• If applicable, the date of decommissioning. [2]

Notes:

[1] If several devices are connected to a certified technical security device in a network system, each individual device used must be reported to the tax office. If individual electronic recording systems without a cash register function (e.g. order cell phones) are connected to an electronic recording system with a cash register function within the meaning of § 146a AO in conjunction with § 1 Satz 1 KassenSichV were connected, only the electronic recording system with cash register function and not the associated electronic recording systems without cash register function are subject to reporting requirements.

[2] In the case of site closures, all systems used at the site can be decommissioned with one notification, without having to report each individual system.

From mid-2025, Belgium will introduce a new generation of the so-called “white cash register”. The aim is to transmit data directly to the Belgian tax authorities.

Although the new cash register system still only applies to the hospitality industry, the corresponding restrictions on the catering industry have been removed from the legislation and could soon be extended to include cash-intensive industries in particular. The obligation to use the new white cash register is being extended to the entire HoReCa sector. Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than EUR 25,000 will remain exempt.

The new version 2.0 ensures direct transmission to the tax authorities. It also enables digital receipts, although customers are still entitled to be given paper receipts. The removal of the existing signature card – VAT Signing Card – should also eliminate the long waiting time for transaction processing.

Currently known timeline:

• July 1, 2025 – Introduction of white cash register 2.0 – all new hospitality businesses must comply with the new legal requirements.
• July 1, 2026 – Transition phase 2 – all businesses that registered between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2017 must switch to the new (online) system.
• July 1, 2027 – Transition phase 3 – all companies that registered between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2021 must switch to the new (online) system.
• 1.7.2028 – Final phase – all businesses that registered between 1.1.2022 and 30.06.2025 must switch to the new (online) system.

The currently suspended notification procedure in accordance with Section 146a (4) of the German Fiscal Code (AO) will be available from 1 January 2025. This was announced by the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) in its letter dated 28 June 2024. All electronic recording systems (“cash registers”) purchased before 1 July 2025 must be registered via the reporting system by 31 June 2025 at the latest.

Initially suspended – notification from 2025

Due to the unavailability of an electronic transmission option, the reporting and notification procedure was initially suspended by the BMF letter dated 6 November 2019. The reporting procedure now available from the beginning of 2025 will be implemented via the “My ELSTER” programme.

What must be reported?

The BMF determines that:

• all electronic recording systems purchased before 1 July 2025 (see Section 1 (1) KassenSichV) must be reported by 31 July 2025 at the latest.
• Electronic recording systems purchased after 1 July 2025 must be reported within one month of purchase.
• The decommissioning of an electronic recording system must also be reported within one month from 1 July 2025 (please note: a prior notification of commissioning/acquisition must be submitted before decommissioning).
• Systems that were permanently decommissioned before 1 July 2025 only need to be reported if a purchase notification has already been submitted.

The reporting procedure also applies in the case of rented or leased cash registers, for example.

EU taximeter and odometer

As mentioned in our news article from last October, a transitional regulation for EU taximeters and odometers was set out in the BMF letter dated 13 October 2013. These systems must be equipped with a TSE by 1 January 2026 at the latest.

As a result, taximeters and odometers not yet equipped with a TSE will not have to be reported from 1 July 2025. The same deadlines and regulations as for other electronic recording systems apply to systems that no longer make use of the non-objection according to the above-mentioned BMF letter or were equipped with a TSE by July 2025.

Notification procedure

The RetailForce system supports you and your customers in the notification process. All the data required for a notification is already stored in the RetailForce system. The functions for the notification procedure will be available in time for 1 January 2025.

Do you have any questions about the registration / notification procedure? We are at your disposal and look forward to hearing from you!

A new version of the RetailForce Fiskal middleware has been released. Version 1.8.8. is available for download.

The new version contains an extensive extension of the RetailForce Document Object Model (DOM) in preparation for the implementation of the fiscalisation requirements of Québec / Canada (WEB-SRM), as well as functional enhancements for Italy and the connection to WARRIFY.

Current DOM version: 1.5.0

In future, changes to the DOM will no longer be published in individual articles, but will be clearly summarised in the following solution article: “Document model – changes“.

Québec / Canada

The connection to the WEB-SRM in Québec can be prepared and tested with this version. Further functions will be added in the coming releases until the planned completion in version 1.9.0.

If you have any questions about implementing Québec, we look forward to hearing from you!

Italy

The functional expansion for Italy includes the connection to the instant lottery (“Lotteria Istantanea”) and the deferred lottery (“Lotteria Differita”). Furthermore, the sale of VAT-exempt items via the so-called Natura-codes (“Codifiche Natura”) is now supported, the correct processing of 100% discount sales and the addition of additional textual and graphic elements on the receipt (footer Grafico, headers and footers, additional QR and barcodes, etc.).

Cloud fiscalisation

Since release 1.8.4, we have been providing our fiscalisation middleware as an online service hosted by us (“Cloud Fiscalisation Service”). The service is primarily intended for web-based cash register systems. With version 1.8.8 the countries

• Denmark and
• Austria

are available. The current version also includes a beta for

• Germany and
• noFiscalisation (for countries without fiscalisation, but for using other RetailForce services).

The implementation variants

• connection to the local REST API (Windows service or Docker container) and
• connection to cloud fiscalisation

are generally identical. However, there are a few special features of cloud fiscalisation that need to be considered. Details can be found in the article “Implementing ‘Cloud Fiscalisation Service’“.

All changes and additions contained in version 1.8.8 can be found in the release notes.

The latest version of RetailForce Fiscal Middleware 1.8.6 is available for download.

In addition to some improvements to the country versions Poland, Romania and Denmark, the new ‘TSE Finder’ tool was released with this version. You will receive more information on this in our next newsletter.

All enhancements, changes and bug fixes can be found in the release notes of the respective version, as well as in the RetailForce Portal in the “Information” section.

The latest version 1.8.5 of the RetailForce Fiskal middleware has been available for download since last weekend.

Overview of changes and extensions

• Denmark
  • Improvements and fixes in SAF-T export.
  • Document validations improved.
  • Error tolerance SAF-T Export increased.
  • AuditLogCheck can be deactivated via the configuration (time check when inserting event entries)
• Germany
  • The time that the service waits for a response from the fiskaly Cloud TSE can now be configured.
• Bulgaria, Poland, Romania
  • Additional document types are now supported. please refer to fiscalCountryProperties
  • PayIn, PayOut and OpeningBalance corrections
    • Note: additional free text elements are not printed for these documents!
• Romania
  • Barcode printing supported.
• Hungary
  • Correction of day opening (GetClosingNecessary function), validation error with EndOfDay for multi-purpose vouchers

All enhancements, changes and bug fixes can be found in the release notes of the respective version, as well as in the RetailForce Portal in the “Information” section.

The latest version of the RetailForce Fiskal Middleware can be found in the downloads directory of the RetailForce website.

At the beginning of April, we will publish our latest release: version 1.8.4.

New features

• Cloud Fiscalisation Austria – the fiscal service for Austria is now available as a hosted cloud version. This means that a local installation of the middleware is no longer required to fulfil the RKSV (Cash Register Security Ordinance).
• Arm32 support – The Fiskal middleware is now available as a Docker container for arm32 architectures. (Note: the processor must support “hard float”)

Overview of changes and extensions

In addition to the new functions, this version mainly contains bug fixes and improvements in the country versions Hungary and France. Details can be found in the release notes.

The latest version of the RetailForce Fiskal Middleware can be found in the downloads directory of the RetailForce website.

The latest release of the RetailForce Fiskal middleware, version 1.8.3, and the cloud system provide a number of new features.

New features

• Cloud Fiscalisation Austria – with the current version, we are providing a BETA version of a hosted cloud version of the Fiscal Service Austria.
• Denmark – Implementation of the requirements of the current version (1.3.0) of the Danish tax authorities’ requirements for cash registers

Overview of changes and extensions

• Hungary
  • Hotfix – Adjustment of VAT-categories-mapping
• Spain
  • Improved logging in case of connection loss with TicketBAI system
• Austria
  • Conversion work for cloud fiscalisation
• Denmark
  • Additions to the event entries section (AuditLog) of the SAF-T file
  • SAF-T export file is no longer base64 encoded
  • Addition of user fields in the EndOfDay document generated by the service (“Z report”)
• Poland, Romania, Bulgaria
  • Reports generated by the printer (Z-Report, Z-Report by Block and KLEN-Export) can now be triggered via middleware functions.
  • Improved logging in the event of printer errors

The latest version of the RetailForce Fiskal Middleware can be found in the downloads directory of the RetailForce website. All enhancements, changes and bug fixes can be found in the release notes of the respective version, as well as in the RetailForce Portal in the “Information” section.